Johnson's Russia List
#7045
3 February 2003
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A CDI Project
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#16
Washington Post
January 31, 2003
'Ark': One Take Is All It Takes
By Desson Howe
Washington Post Staff Writer

IN "RUSSIAN Ark," history loses its dust and comes to life again. And time
is given its biggest breathing space in the history of the movies.

The first feature-length movie ever to contain its entire story in one,
uninterrupted shot (87 minutes in duration), this film pays tribute to
Russia's great state museum, the Hermitage, and by extension the nation,
its cultural treasures and history. (Actually, the movie's full running
time is 97 minutes, counting a brief introduction against a black screen
and the end credits.)

With breathtakingly detailed choreography, Russian director Alexander
Sokurov leads you through 33 rooms of the museum (Peter the Great's former
Winter Palace) and several centuries of artistic and cultural magnificence.
During this unblinking inner journey, we meet all manner of characters,
both historic and modern.

Dramatically, this is something of a waking dream, a journey through the
Hermitage undertaken by an unseen narrator (the voice of Sokurov) and a
rather cynical 19th-century French diplomat, the Marquis de Custine (Sergey
Dreiden).

While the narrator talks about Russia's emotional journey from the 17th
century to the present, the Frenchman casts aspersions about the Russian
culture as he encounters Peter the Great, Catherine the Great, the two
Nicholases, various czarinas, courtiers, servants, soldiers and other
visitors of past and present. There is noticeably little mention of
Communism, Stalin, Lenin and a little thing known as the Battle of
Stalingrad. The historical sweep, one assumes, cannot cover everything.

Accompanying this odd couple, we go through corridors, up and down
stairwells, outside into snowy gardens and through lavish ballrooms. And
everywhere we see the great art, the El Grecos and Rembrandts, the
sculptures, the murals, all unfolding in a seemingly endless cornucopia.

Directors ranging from Abel Gance to Martin Scorsese have made movies with
extended, lushly choreographed shots. And in the 1948 "Rope," Alfred
Hitchcock created the illusion of a whole movie in one take.

But filmmakers have always been restricted by the natural running length of
film magazines, which lasted less than 15 minutes. Even digital cassettes
are restricted to less than a hour.

With the ingenuity of German and Russian technicians, Sokurov invented a
system that bypassed the one-hour barrier. His high-definition digital
video camera was able to save its footage to a portable hard drive, so that
an 87-minute take was possible.

The most exciting and visible creativity comes in the choreography and
mise-en-scene. Sokurov directed 867 actors, 2,000 extras, dozens of
technicians and three live orchestras, all of whom had to perform perfectly
or ruin the movie.

It took months of rehearsal and, when its single production day (Dec. 23,
2001) began, three attempts misfired. But then came the keeper shot, in
which no one fell or slipped, no lights or microphones strayed into the
picture and everyone followed their cues. You can watch that sequence in
all its heart-pounding excitement as director of photography/Steadicam
operator Tilman Buettner walks a 4,265-foot perfect take.

"Ark" is more than a showcase nod to Russian history, or an elaborate
technical exercise. It's an extraordinary dramatic experience, a blissful
waltz through time without so much as an elliptical hiccup. Sokurov has
described this as "a film shot, as it were, in a single breath." But after
you have experienced this labyrinthine, indoor epic and especially its
climactic mazurka ball in the Hermitage (a reenactment of the last function
held in 1913), see if you can breathe at all.

RUSSIAN ARK (Unrated, 97 minutes) -- In Russian with subtitles. Contains
nothing objectionable. At the American Film Institute, Friday through
Thursday. The movie is scheduled for commercial release Feb. 7.

******